‘Best of both worlds” for former student-athlete

Some people may be intimidated by
the work involved with graduating a year early, playing a sport and being
president of the School of Management’s scholar’s program. Brendan McGovern
knew that he was up for the challenge.

“One of the reasons I chose to
play soccer is that it forces you to balance your time,” says McGovern. “You
can’t be lazy.”

Originally, McGovern, a
Westchester native, decided to attend Binghamton University for the academics
and never really considered playing soccer here. But after being accepted to
the school, he decided to contact the coach.

“It just worked out,” he says. “I
realized I could get the best of both worlds.”

In addition to being a member of
the men’s soccer team and the president of the SOM scholar’s program, he is
involved with the Dean’s Advisory Board in the SOM, a graduate assistant for
the Management Information Systems Department in the SOM, a teaching assistant
for an MIS class, and is involved in the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

“I’ve gotten the opportunity to do
a lot of different things,” he says, “and I’ve found unique ways that I could
get involved.”

McGovern earned his master’s
degree in accounting in May 2009, after graduating a year early from the School
of Management. And he didn’t just graduate: he graduated with one of the top 10
GPAs of any Binghamton University student-athlete, helping his team to achieve
the highest GPA of all Division I men’s soccer programs in the nation for the
2007-08 school year.

“I’m proud that I’ve surrounded myself with great people,” he
says, “and I didn’t focus on just athletics or academics.”

One of the people McGovern worked closely with over four years is head soccer coach Paul Marco, who
attributes McGovern’s success to his self-awareness.

“He just gets it,” Marco says. “He
understands what his strengths are and who he is.”

McGovern now works for
PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City. But Marco has bigger things in mind
for McGovern.

“He could be president one day if
he wanted,” he says. “I’d vote for him.”